


Guilty by Association

by UmbreonGurl



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Persona 5 Protagonist is from Inaba, Slice of Life, Stupid teenagers being stupid teenagers, no beta we die like men, p5 but without actually being near the events of p5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24687451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbreonGurl/pseuds/UmbreonGurl
Summary: Life without her older brother is harder than it seems when it feels like the whole town won't stop looking at her like she’s a criminal too.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please make sure you have creator's style/workskins enabled for this fic, as I use them to format texting.

Akira’s room is empty. His bed lies untouched, his closet is bare, and what personal effects he had are long gone, either thrown out or sent with him when he left for his probation.

He’s been gone for a while now, and even though Aiko knows full well he’ll be in Tokyo for quite a while longer, some part of her can’t help but expect for him to be here. She expects to see Akira trudging down the stairs when she wakes up, she expects to hear his grumbles as he rushes to make himself breakfast in the morning, expects to hear angry knocks on the bathroom door when she takes just a bit too long fussing with her hair. 

The house lies silent. There’s no dry comments about how much eyeliner she’s wearing, no waggling eyebrows when she mentions she’s hanging out with Daichi today after school, no— Akira’s not here. His room is empty, and the rest of the house is empty along with it.

* * *

Aiko makes it to school fifteen minutes late. She’d lost track of time trying to get her eyeshadow _just right_ , and if it weren’t for a text from Yui, she probably would have been even later.

She gets pulled aside by her homeroom teacher before lunch, and every word that comes out of his mouth makes Aiko want to scream.

“I know Akira-kun has been involved in some unsavory activity lately,” he says, “but I trust you’ll ensure you don’t follow his example. You’re a good, hard-working girl, Aiko-chan, I know this isn’t like you.”

Aiko’s hands clench into fists.

“You must be very shaken-up from everything that’s happened recently. I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but don’t let it happen again, okay?”

Aiko smiles, and her teeth grind against each other so hard she wouldn’t be surprised if they cracked.

“Of course. Thank you, Ueno-sensei,” she says. “It won’t happen again.”

* * *

The bad part about living in a small town is that what little gossip there is spreads— and it spreads quickly. It’s not long after lunch that Aiko overhears whispers in the hallway of _“delinquent brother”_ and _“criminal’s sister.”_

Aiko doesn’t consider herself a violent person, but by the time she meets up with Daichi after school, she _really_ wants to punch something.

Her sour mood is immediately obvious to Daichi.

“Bad day?” he asks, as he leans on the wall near the gate.

“You could say that,” grumbles Aiko. “I’m late to school just _one_ time and everybody already won’t shut up about how I’m _“following in Akira’s footsteps.”_ It’s stupid.”

Daichi straightens his bag on his shoulders as they begin the walk home.

“It is stupid,” agrees Daichi, “but it’s only ‘cuz they don’t have much else to talk about right now.” He shrugs. “Someone’ll do something stupid tomorrow and they’ll all shut up about your brother and start blabbing about that instead.”

“I hope so.” Aiko sighs. “I don’t have the patience for this. If Suzuki says another word about it tomorrow, I swear I’ll empty her trumpet’s spit valve right on her stupid head at band practice.”

“She doesn’t even have any right to go talkin’ shit.” Daichi pulls out his phone with one hand and starts scrolling through his feed. “Given what she pulled with Watanabe in the library, she’d be a fool to.”

Aiko laughs. “True. But since when has Suzuki ever been smart?”

“Fair point.”

* * *

People don’t stop talking about Akira the next day, the day after, or the day after that. There’s some side topics here and there, like how Mrs. Takahashi is supposedly having an affair, or how Kikyo Suzuki was caught _yet again_ sucking face with a boy in the library, but Akira’s arrest and subsequent trial are still fresh in everyone’s minds.

Aiko honestly wishes something would happen around here, just so people would _shut up._ It’s bad enough at school, but even at home she can’t seem to get any peace and quiet. Mother and Father won’t stop breathing down her neck about literally everything, and it is suffocating.

It’s almost as if the moment their hopes and dreams for Akira’s future died, their expectations for Aiko’s grew. They have their own reputations to maintain, after all, and for their sake, she has to be on her best behavior. She represents the Kurusu family now, and Aiko’s well aware that the moment she steps a toe out of line she’s done for. 

Dinner is quiet. There’s an occasional request to pass something or other, but nobody has much to say until they’re about halfway finished.

“How is school going?” asks Father, eventually. “Are you keeping your grades up?”

“Yes,” says Aiko. “If I keep my studies up, I should be able to stay in the top ten of my class.”

“Try for top five,” says Mother, “You need to make sure your grades are impeccable so you can get into a good university. Mrs. Sanada’s boy just got into Tokyo University, and he was always near the top of his class.”

“Yes, mother,” she says. 

Akira’s photo watches from across the room. 

* * *

Exams season only makes things worse, but at the very least Aiko can use the excuse of studying with friends to stay out of the house for a while. While Daichi may be infuriatingly dense sometimes and Yui never stops talking, they are both far better company than Mother and Father have been recently. (It helps that Yui’s mom makes the _best_ study snacks.)

Aiko is halfway through an annoying math problem when a hand waves between her face and the paper.

“Hey.”

Aiko glances up, and Yui gives her a concerned look. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for a few minutes now.”

“Oh,” says Aiko, “sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

“You must have been really in the zone.” Yui puts her elbows on the table and rests her chin on her hands. “Really, Aiko, you should take a break soon. We’ve been studying for like, three hours now. I don’t think I can sit still for much longer.”

“Then go join Daichi in raiding your mom’s fridge,” Aiko responds. “I need to finish this problem first.”

Yui frowns, but doesn’t give any other sort of response, grabbing her phone and looking through her texts.

Daichi comes back and sets a bowl of apple slices down on the table.

“Snacks are here,” he says. He glances towards where Aiko is still furiously working and frowns. “Yui, didn’t I tell you to make her take a break?”

“I tried,” says Yui, barely looking up from her phone. “It didn’t work. If you want to try, be my guest.”

Daichi snatches the workbook up from the table. 

“Hey!” Aiko reaches to grab it back, but Daichi holds it out of her reach.

“You can have this back later,” he says. “Food first.”

“Fine.” 

Daichi doesn’t give it back later.

* * *

The halls are crowded when results are finally posted. Half of Aiko just wants to push through the crowd and look for her name on that list, and the other half of her just wants to turn tail and go home.

Realistically, she knows that even if she ignores the list, feigning ignorance won’t please Mother and Father. If anything, not knowing her score—or rather her rank—would be worse than it being atrocious.

It takes a little while, but the crowd eventually starts to thin a bit. Aiko takes the opportunity to get a glimpse at the top of the list. The numbers on the right don’t matter. The numbers on the left— those are the ones Aiko really wants a look at.

_1\. Tanaka Ichiro_

_2\. Aoki Sakura_

_3\. Fujimori Junichi_

Three names in, and her stomach drops. There’s still two spaces left in the top five, but Aiko highly suspects she isn’t going to make it.

_4\. Miyazaki Kaito_

_5\. Nomura Haruhi_

_6\. Kurusu Aiko_

She was right— she didn’t make it into the top five. All that studying, all that work, just to barely miss out. It’s ironically funny how close she got. Aiko almost wants to laugh. 

Mother is not going to be happy. 

* * *

Mother is furious, Father is disappointed, and dinner that night is tense. There’s not much yelling or screaming, but the disappointment is something felt bone-deep. Mother’s silent rage is accentuated by the sound of dishes clinking, Father’s tired sighs drowned out by the sound of the TV in the background.

Aiko makes a beeline for her room as soon as she finishes eating, and it’s not long after she crashes onto her bed that she can hear hushed arguing from downstairs. Aiko turns on the TV in her room to drown it out and simply dozes for a bit to the sound of the Junes commercials.

She comes back to awareness when her phone buzzes.

Yui  
  
hey u ok? ik u said ur parents would be pissed  
  
im fine. my parents r arguing downstairs tho, and im pretty sure its either abt me or akira  
  
or both  
  
idek why theyre so pissed at u like u got top 10 like thats impressive as hell  
  
do they even know how hard itd be to get into top 5 with all the tryhards in our class???  
  
godddd ikr??? its stupid. i dont think id be able to get top of the class even if i got a perfect score  
  
cuz tanaka would somehow find a way to get better than perfect  
  
true lmfao  
  
but ya its just like as soon as akira left they started being like  
  
“ok aiko you can’t just be good anymore u have to be the BEST bcuz ur bro is a disappointment”  
  
im so sorry aiko that sucks :(  
  
if u wanna crash at my place for a few days im sure i could convince my mom  
  
she loves u  
  
it could be a sleepover  
  
gals night  
  
or gals nights if u needed  
  
while i appreciate the offer i dont think itd help all that much  
  
theyll just be more pissed when i get back and get on me for hanging out w/u instead of studying there is one thing u could do for me tho  
  
tell me and ill make it happen for u queen  
  
hit me up with ur slice of life anime recs i could use some stress relief rn  
  
and u always said they were super relaxing  
  
gimme one sec and ill send u over the list  
  
ur the best ily  
  
no u  
  
just dont send me feathermen again i stg :)  
  
screw you feathermen is good  
  
ok daichi  
  
>:(  
  
just cuz he likes it doesnt make it bad  
  
even a broken clock is right twice a day u know

* * *

Band practice is both heaven and hell. On one hand, Aiko loves playing the clarinet, on the other, sitting next to the trumpets—or more specifically Kikyo Suzuki—is absolute torture. At least Daichi sits on her other side, and even though they don’t talk much during band (considering they’re playing instruments), his presence is reassuring. 

When band practice ends is when the hell part of things really comes into play. Without the need to stay silent for the music, Suzuki is free to run her mouth as she pleases.

Aiko’s halfway done with disassembling her clarinet when Suzuki decides to speak up.

“You might need to practice more, Kurusu-san,” she says. “Your high notes were sounding a bit squeaky today.”

“I wasn’t aware you knew what practicing was, Suzuki-san,” Aiko coos back, as she takes the reed off of the mouthpiece and wipes it off. “Judging by the way you handle your trumpet, I thought you didn’t know.”

“I practice quite often, actually,” Suzuki says with a smile. “In _my_ family, it’s expected that I act respectably.”

Daichi pipes up from Aiko’s other side as he leans over and closes the fasteners on his clarinet case. “Really? Cuz’ I don’t think I’ve ever seen ya’ act respectably once. Everyone knows the only reason you’re not in trouble all the time is cuz’ people are too scared of your rich dad to do anything.”

“At least I _have_ a father,” Suzuki fumes and grabs her Trumpet case with a huff. “It seems you were so insufferable yours didn’t want to stay around.”

“Nice one,” says Daichi sarcastically. “Real original. Haven’t heard that one before in my life. If you’re gonna be a bitch, at least be creative with your insults, Suzuki-san.”

Some of Suzuki’s friends pull her aside, and it’s almost comical to watch how her attitude changes from bitchy to angelic at the flip of a hat.

Daichi and Aiko take the chance to leave.

“What a bitch,” says Daichi, as they walk home.

“What a bitch,” echoes Aiko. “Really, you’d think she’d find something better to do with her time.” 

“Maybe Yui should send Suzuki her anime recommendations,” says Daichi, shrugging, “considerin’ they seemed to do a pretty good job of sucking up your time and all.”

Aiko elbows him and Daichi laughs. 

* * *

Daichi  
  
hey r u free rn?  
  
depends  
  
i told my parents i was studying but ive been watching anime for the past hour  
  
so uh… kinda?  
  
wanna go hit up the junes food court in like an hr?  
  
im not sure ill be able to convince my parents  
  
but my dads at work rn and my moms off doing god knows what so i can probs just sneak out anyways  
  
its a holiday u deserve some time off  
  
worst comes to worst just say ur tutoring me again and theyll get off ur ass  
  
ill bring my hw so technically it wont be a lie :)  
  
u wont leave me alone unless i come will u  
  
:)  
  
fine jackass ill be there  
  
but yui better be coming too  
  
im not gonna be forced to work on math with ur dumbass without backup  
  
hey im not that bad at math  
  
no but you’re not a great student when there’s food around  
  
u get too distracted  
  
its not my fault they have rlly good takoyaki at junes ok  
  
besides i dont want to spend all day studying  
  
we should do smthn fun as well  
  
like what  
  
i dont know uhhhh  
  
lemme think one sec  
  
we’ll figure it out later i think my mom just got home so i gotta go convince her  
  
godspeed  
  


Aiko makes her way downstairs quietly and finds Mother busy unloading groceries.

“Can I help?” she offers.

“Please,” says Mother.

Aiko immediately gets to work, grabbing a bag and starting to unpack its contents. She’s halfway through her third bag when she decides to go for it.

“I want to go meet some friends in a bit to study, if that’s okay.”

“Why do you need to meet up with friends?” asks Mother. “Can’t you just study on your own?”

“Yes,” says Aiko, as she puts a head of cabbage in the fridge. “But helping my friends learn the content helps me to reinforce my own understanding. And Daichi really needs the help with math.”

Daichi isn’t _that_ bad at math, but Mother doesn’t need to know that.

“Fine,” says Mother. “So long as you’re studying. Be back before dinner, and don’t get into trouble.”

“Okay.”

Daichi  
  
i convinced her  
  
ill b there at 12:30ish   
  
hell yeah lets go  
  
btw when i said i was bringing my math work i wasnt joking can i see ur answers  
  
this shits hard   
  
i only do this bcuz i love u  
  
no u cannot see my answers  
  
:(  
  
but ill help u get ur own  
  
:) ur the best  
  
ill see u in a while  
  
and ur buying my lunch if im helping u w math  
  
wait what aiko cmon  
  
its literally one meal from junes its not that expensive do u want my help or not  
  
ughhhh fine  
  


* * *

The Junes food court is always busy at lunchtime, and considering it’s a holiday, it’s even busier. 

When Aiko arrives, Yui and Daichi have already claimed a table. Every other one she can see is taken, so she’s lucky they did. Daichi waves, and Yui doesn’t look up from her phone.

“Oh good, you’re here,” says Daichi, getting up from his seat as Aiko sits down. “I’ll go get in line for food then. Be right back.”

Daichi heads off before Aiko can protest, and Yui simply glances up from her phone and sighs. “He’s so impatient, I swear. I told him we should wait til’ you got here to get food and he was practically ready to jump out of his seat the whole time.”

Aiko chuckles. “Of course he was. God forbid he has to wait five minutes before he gets his takoyaki.”

“Oh yeah, I meant to send you some cool fanart I found on Polaroid,” says Yui, as Aiko sits down and shrugs her bag off her shoulder.

“For Life on the River?” she asks, grabbing her phone from her pocket. “Cool. Which characters?”

“It’s HanAsuka ship art. It’s super cute,” says Yui, as she scrolls through to find it. “One sec, let me find where I saved the link.”

Aiko and Yui quickly lose track of time exchanging cool fan content, and Daichi eventually makes his way back with three containers of takoyaki.

“Sorry I took forever,” he says, as he sets one down in front of Aiko, “the line was crazy long.”

Yui reaches over for hers, raising an eyebrow. “It’s the holiday lunch rush, Daichi, what did you expect? To just waltz up and get it instantly?”

“No,” he says, “but I’m just so frickin’ hungry right now. That took _way_ too long.”

“Then shut your mouth and eat, dumbass,” says Aiko, as she takes a bite.

Daichi gives her the finger with one hand as he digs into his takoyaki.

Aiko glances at Yui, and they both flip him the bird in return.

“Unfair,” he groans, “you can’t gang up on me like that. This is bullying. Two versus one is against the rules.”

“What rules?” says Yui. “Lunch doesn’t have any.”

Yui reaches over and snatches one of Daichi’s takoyaki balls.

“Lunch is a free-for-all, my friend, and right now, you’re losing.”

* * *

They don’t end up doing math that day. Whether it’s due to the noise of the food court, the Junes bear’s kids corner starting shortly after they finished eating, or Daichi’s short attention span, she’s not sure, but they end up wandering around town for a while.

It’s not all that exciting, by any means— there’s no new buildings, no special events, nothing out of the usual— but Aiko supposes that’s what makes it nice. It’s something quiet, something simple, a shred of normalcy she clings to like a child to a safety blanket.

It ends all too soon as dinnertime inches closer and closer, and Aiko bids her goodbyes to Daichi and Yui and heads home.

Dinner is quiet, and Father watches the news as he eats.

“Another train crash in Tokyo today, the newest in a recent string of crashes,” says the announcer. “Several are injured, but all are expected to recover.” 

Mother reaches for the remote and quickly changes the channel to a cooking show.

“I was watching that,” Father grumbles.

“I don’t want to hear about such dreary things at the dinner table,” she shoots back. “You can turn it back on once we’re done eating.”

“Fine.”

“Aiko, dear,” Mother says, turning towards her, “how was your study session today?”

“It was good,” she says, lying through her teeth with a smile. “We got a lot done.”

“I’m so glad,” says Mother. “Keep at it and you’ll be in the top five in no time.”

“I hope so,” says Aiko. She really doubts it, but it’d certainly be nice. 

“Don’t just hope,” grumbles Father. “Make it happen.”

“I will,” she says. 

She’s not hungry anymore.

* * *

Yui  
  
hey  
  
u never responded to the polaroid post i sent u  
  
sorry i didnt see it :(  
  
and also u know i dont even use that app cmon  
  
u should  
  
the fanart on there is so good dude  
  
then i could just tell u which accts to follow instead of having to send u links to every post  
  
ill think abt it ok  
  
uk i dont feel comfy abt posting my face online  
  
dude u dont even have to make ur acct like abt u  
  
or post ur face  
  
u can literally just set ur pfp to an anime girl and name urself  
  
AsukaSimp1234 or smthn and make ur acct private  
  
if i got an account im not naming it that  
  
it was an example  
  
well it was a bad one cuz im not an Asuka simp  
  
r u sure abt that  
  
yes >:(  
  
hmmm idk  
  
sounds like smthn an asuka simp would say  
  
if i make a polaroid account will u leave me alone  
  
yes  
  
my user is AsukaStan1234 now leave me alone  
  
youre joking  
  
:)  
  
oh my god you werent  
  
i sent a follow request  
  
i despise you  
  
the feelings mutual dw  
  
give me a min and ill send u some accts to follow  
  


Daichi  
  
i cannot believe you got a polaroid and didnt tell me  
  
i made it to follow art thats it  
  
i will never post anything on there  
  
who told you  
  
yui  
  
that traitor  
  
we had a sacred nerd bond and she violated it  
  
giving out my account info to heathens  
  
ill have you know im not a heathen  
  
i regularly watch neo feathermen  
  
as i said  
  
heathen  
  
you suck  
  
sorry i dont speak heathen what was that  
  
ok but rlly wtf is up with ur username  
  
asukastan1234??? rlly??  
  
blame yui she played with fire and i spit it right back  
  
im still confused but ok  
  
thats ok u dont need to understand it  
  
just like i dont need to understand how u and yui like feathermen rangers  
  
screw you pink argus is cool  
  
ok daichi  
  


* * *

Days blur, and before Aiko knows it, it’s May and the flowers in town start blooming full-force. While they’re certainly pretty, Aiko hates flower season—and so does her asthma. The pollen in the air is so heavy it makes her lungs burn, and by the time she makes it in the front door of the school, she’s already tired and wants to go home. 

Yui is busy playing on her phone when Aiko arrives, and glances up as Aiko takes her seat.

“You look like shit,” she says.

“I feel like shit,” Aiko groans, putting her arms on the desk and resting her head. “Every flower in Inaba decided to collectively take a dump on me this morning.”

“Did you forget your inhaler again?” Yui gives her a concerned glance.

Aiko’s only response is a slight grumble from underneath her arms. 

“Aiko, _honey_...” says Yui with a sigh. “Really? Again? This is the second time this week.”

“I must’ve left it on the counter or something,” she says. “I was in a rush this morning.”

“You’re in a rush every morning,” says Yui.

“Yeah, and? Why do you think I keep forgetting it all the time?” Aiko groans. “Akira always used to slip it in my bag if I left it out. I guess some part of me still forgets he’s not here.”

“Yeah,” says Yui, “I can imagine it’d be pretty weird for him to be gone.”

“Weird doesn’t even begin to describe how it is,” says Aiko. “I mean... it’s not like we were even that close or anything. It kinda feels like one of those things where you don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone, yknow? It’s just so… not right.”

“Have you heard from him at all?” asks Yui. “Maybe you could call him or something. Or text.”

“Can’t. Nobody in the family’s allowed to talk to, see, or hear from him.” Aiko shakes her head. “Not that the rest of the family would really want to, I think.”

“Really?” Yui huffs. “That’s dumb.”

“Yeah,” says Aiko. “Apparently it’s something about separating him from “ _any and all people and places that could encourage his juvenile delinquency_ ” during his probation.”

“They seriously said that? That’s…” Yui pauses for a moment, trying to find the right words. “That might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Your parents may be assholes sometimes, but they’re not bad people. You’re not one either.”

“The system doesn’t care,” Aiko says. “They don’t look deep into everyone’s situations, they just send you through, shove you out like yesterday’s trash, and move on.”

“That’s messed up,” says Yui.

“Yeah. It is.” She shrugs. “But it’s not like we can do anything about it. We’re kids.”

“Just because we’re kids shouldn’t mean what we have to say doesn’t matter. Stuff like that shouldn’t happen.”

“It shouldn’t,” agrees Aiko, “but there’s a lot of things in the world that shouldn’t happen but still do. And yet the world just keeps on turning, uncaring of the plights of man.”

“Are you always a philosopher when you’re grumpy?” Yui raises an eyebrow. “That was unusually eloquent.”

“Thanks,” says Aiko, “I try.”

* * *

Aiko wakes to her phone buzzing. She blearily reaches her arm over and grabs it, clicking the little button on the side to bring it to life. There are two missed calls, one from Yui, one from Daichi, and a boatload of texts from each.

It takes one brief glance at the timestamp on Yui’s “hey where are you?” for her to spring out of bed faster than she ever has in her life.

She’d overslept— by a lot.

Aiko stumbles through her morning routine, brushing her teeth as she changes, shoving her homework haphazardly in her bag, and she almost trips over her own feet a few times trying to get out the door. At this point, it’s far too late for rushing to even make a difference, but the adrenaline fueled part of her brain yells to stop thinking and to keep moving.

Her lungs are burning by the time she arrives at the gates. She pauses for a moment to fumble through the little pocket in the front of her bag only to discover she’s forgotten her inhaler again. How convenient.

Just as Aiko thinks the day can’t get any worse, she glances down at her phone to find she’s over an hour late, and she’s already missed the entirety of first period.

She really should have known that telling herself “just one more episode” the night before was going to end badly. In fairness, Aiko had previously never slept through her alarm, so she didn’t really think this would ever be something to watch out for. There’s a first time for everything, it seems.

The moment Aiko opens the door to the classroom she can practically feel everyone's eyes on her. As she takes her seat, her stomach drops as the knowledge that she is completely and utterly screwed sets in. 

Ueno-sensei isn’t generous enough to forgive being over an hour late, regardless of how good of a student she is. No— especially given the fact she was already late before, she’s absolutely screwed. Mother and Father will be furious when they find out, and Aiko can practically already hear them screaming.

_“You had one job,” Father will say. “To stay out of trouble and do well in school, and you couldn’t even do that much.”_

_“A disappointment, just like your brother,” Mother will echo. “And here I thought we still had one good child. Akito, you should have been sterner with her.”_

Aiko turns the pages of her history textbook with shaking fingers. Yui gives her a concerned glance from next to her, and Aiko flashes her a small smile.

It must not be a very convincing one, as Yui’s expression doesn’t change.

Aiko’s phone buzzes in her pocket, and she sneaks it under her desk to get a glance at it.

Yui  
  
hey are u feelin ok??  
  
ofc not do u even realize how screwed i am rn  
  
unfortunately i do  
  
ur parents r gonna be dickheads abt this arent they  
  
probably  
  
and i bet suzuki is gonna go bragging to her posse abt how “i knew aiko was a no good rule breaker”  
  
if she does ill tell her to shut up  
  
thanks but uk that wont work  
  
ppl will gossip no matter what  
  
:(  
  
is there anything i can do??  
  
unless u can magically make ueno sensei not tell my parents, then no  
  
unfortunately i do not have the power to do that  
  
i think he hates me lol  
  
then yeah theres not rlly much u can do  
  
u could probs crash at my place tonite if u wanted?  
  
thatll just make em angrier  
  
wed only be delaying the inevitable   
  
best to get it over with tbh  
  
rip off the theoretical bandaid  
  
i dont think they’ll do much more than scream at me or take away my phone or something  
  
its not like I have much of a social life to ground me from  
  
u have me and daichi  
  
ok but ur only two people  
  
and??? u dont need that many friends so long as theyre good ones  
  
we love u bitch  
  
i love you too bitch  
  
we should probs stop texting now tho  
  
:( but aiko im bored  
  
aiko cmonnnn itll be fine so long as we dont get caught  
  
srsly yui if ueno sensei catches us on our phones then we r both screwed and i especially am dead  
  
did u see the thing on the news yesterday abt that famous artist confessing to plaigarizing his student’s stuff??  
  
it was on right after that dreamboat goro akechis interview rerun  
  
or at least that’s when i saw it but it was probs a rerun too tbh  
  
pretty crazy how he got away with stealing from his students for so long right  
  
hello?? aiko???  
  
im gonna pretend i didnt see you call goro akechi a dreamboat in the middle of history  
  
that dude looks like he hasnt showered in his life  
  
im sorry yui but ur taste is shit  
  
now please stop texting me im trying to focus  
  
fine  
  
but my taste is not shit  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Aiko had expected the yelling, she was prepared for the disappointed sighs, and she had braced herself for a whole slew of possibilities her parents might throw her way. She hadn’t prepared for Mother and Father to be too busy arguing with each other to scold her upon returning home.

She doesn’t doubt that they’ll come for her later, and is well aware that the guillotine blade of punishment still hangs high over her neck, but she won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. 

There’s no family dinner that night— or any dinner at all really, beyond the vending machine snacks Aiko had shoved in her bag on the way home. They’re no meal, and she quickly finds after eating a small box of candy and a container of chips that she’s hungrier than she was before.

She waits for a few hours before she braves going downstairs for food— real food, not empty calories. There’s nobody in the kitchen when she arrives, but it’s not long after she starts digging through the fridge that Mother walks in.

“You were late to school this morning,” she says.

Aiko grabs an apple out of the fridge and turns around. 

“Yeah. I’m sorry,” admits Aiko, because there’s really no use denying it. Mother already knows, and at this point, it’s best to just get things over with and beg for forgiveness.

“Your father and I have agreed that you need to get a job,” says Mother. 

Honestly, out of all the things that could have come out of her mouth, that wasn’t what Aiko had expected. A job, she could work with that. It’d be an easy, parent-approved excuse to stay out of the house, and she’ll get to make a bit of money as well. 

“It’ll teach you to be more responsible. Clearly you have too much free time on your hands.”

“Fine,” says Aiko. 

She can’t say she agrees with the reasons for her parents’ decision, but at the very least it’s a decision she can deal with.

“I heard from Mrs. Yamada that Junes is hiring, and I expect you to go apply immediately after class tomorrow or there will be consequences.”

Aiko pauses at that. 

“I have band practice tomorrow,” she says. “I can’t go immediately after class.”

Mother frowns. “After practice, then.”

“After practice,” Aiko agrees. “I’ll go then.”

Aiko turns to leave, but stops when Mother calls her name.

“Aiko,” she says.

Aiko turns back.

“Yes?”

“Don’t be late again.”

Aiko smiles, and it is faker than the ingredients of the snacks she had eaten earlier.

“Of course. It won’t happen again.”

* * *

Suzuki isn’t there that day, and band practice is significantly calmer without her. It’s amazing, really, how one person being missing can make the whole room so much quieter. It’s the first time in a long time she’s had a moment of peace while packing up her clarinet. (Granted, Daichi _was_ making stupid jokes the whole time, but he’s the type of chaos that she enjoys, wild, but overall harmless.)

The route to Junes is one she’s walked many times. Usually she doesn’t walk it alone, but Daichi has to help his mom with something and Yui is busy today. When she finally arrives, she has to stop herself from just heading to the elevator and going up to the food court on autopilot. 

“Inquire within,” the sign had said— as if that narrowed things down at all. Inquire to who? Inquire on which floor? Inquire where? 

Aiko won’t lie, she’s nervous. She much prefers clear directions, and just the vagueness of everything is unsettling.

It’s because of all these things that Aiko ends up wandering for a bit, aimlessly looking at things she has no need for and no interest in buying. (The discovery that blenders now come with features she didn’t even think a blender _needed_ is actually somewhat interesting, even if she isn’t going to buy one.)

Her aimless wandering eventually gets noticed by the time she ends up in the TV section.

“Hiya! Can I help you find anything?” comes a cheery voice from behind her.

Aiko startles from the TV she was looking at, turning around to find herself face to face with a beaming young man. His hair is blonde and neatly styled, and his apron is neat and wrinkle-free. 

_Teddie_ , his nametag reads.

“I… uh…” she finds herself unable to form words for a moment. “I guess?”

“Is there a specific model you’re looking for? We have a wide selection of brands.” He pauses for a moment. “Oh, and sizes too! We’ve got some super high quality displays, some really nice HD flatscreens.”

He laughs. 

“Oh! I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention that,” He gestures around the TV section. “we’ve got the widest TV selection in Inaba! I’m sure I can help you find something to fit your needs.”

“I’m Doug Teddie, by the way. Beary pleased to meet you.” He adjusts his nametag and winks at her, almost preening at his own joke.

“I’m… not really looking for a TV, actually,” says Aiko.

“Oh! No problem!” His grin doesn’t fall. “I can help you find other things too!”

Lord, this is awkward. She really should have just came out and said that she’s not looking to buy anything in the first place. Now is better than never, though, she supposes.

“I’m not here to buy anything, actually. Not today, at least,” she starts, before clarifying. “I’m here about the flyer you guys had up? The one where it says you guys are looking for part-timers?”

She knows she’s rambling by now, but she just can’t seem to shut up.

“I just wasn’t sure who to talk to about that because it said inquire within, and I wasn’t sure which floor, which person, or any of that stuff.”

He doesn’t respond immediately. 

She lets out an awkward chuckle. “I know that sounds really dumb, but I didn’t want to go to the wrong place, you know?”

“You’re in luck, then!” he says, and his smile somehow grows even wider. “You’re in the right place! And at the right time, too!”

He glances at her uniform before giving her an approving nod. “You’re a Yasogami student?”

“Yeah. First year.”

“That’s great! You definitely came to the right place, then. A lot of our part timers are students.”

He pauses for a moment to think. “You’ll have to talk to a manager first, and I can’t guarantee you’ll get the job, but I personally think you’d be a great fit!”

“How do you know? We just met,” Aiko says, before she can stop herself. She almost wants to slap herself as soon as the words come out of her mouth. “You literally know nothing about me.”

“First impressions are everything,” he says, “and you don’t seem like a bad person. You aren’t, are you?”

“If I were to say yes,” she says, “would you believe me?”

“Nope!” 

And the dopey grin is back.

“Unfortunately, it’s not my decision on whether or not to hire people, but one of the managers is free right now, if you want to talk to him.”

Aiko almost wants to sigh in relief. She’s glad she didn’t bomb it before she even got to talk to the manager.

“That’d be great. Thank you.”

“Follow me,” he says.

* * *

As they weave their way through the aisles and towards the back, he asks her a few questions.

“So what made you interested in Junes?”

_My parents told me to come apply here today and if I didn’t I’d be a dead woman._

“Oh, I was just wanting to pick up some part-time work and just happened to see the flyer,” she replies. “It looked like a good opportunity for me to earn some extra money.”

“Makes sense.” He nods in understanding. “Having a bit of extra cash is definitely nice. I remember when one of my friends was around your age, he was always looking for extra shifts on his jobs to fund his hobbies.”

“I think I’ll probably save most of my money,” _so I can move out of my parents’ house as soon as I get out of high school,_ “although a little of it probably will end up going towards my hobbies.”

“That’s responsible of you,” he says. “My friend probably would have done the same if his hobbies weren’t so expensive.”

She half expects him to go into detail about his friend’s hobbies. He doesn’t, so she doesn’t push it.

“I just realized I got so caught up in everything I never even asked you your name! How rude of me.”

“Oh, that’s not your fault! I’m the rude one here. I forgot to introduce myself.”

In reality, she hadn’t forgotten. It’s the question she’s been waiting for the whole time, the one she knows could make or break this whole thing. 

“I’m Aiko Kurusu,” she says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Well then, I’ll say again that it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he says. 

They finally make their way to a small office in the back, and Teddie waves her in ahead of him. It’s empty, and she turns and gives him a curious look.

“One of the managers will be in to talk to you shortly if you want to take a seat,” he says. 

She takes a seat, and her nervousness must be obvious, because he gives her a thumbs up.

“Don’t worry, I know you’ll do great!”

He leaves and shuts the door behind him, and she is alone.

* * *

She spends a minute or two stewing in her own thoughts before her phone buzzes.

Daichi  
  
hey howd the job thing go? ik u were kinda nervous abt it  
  
dunno yet  
  
waiting to speak to the manager rn  
  
oh  
  
wait should u even be on ur phone then??  
  
probs not but im waiting rn anyways  
  
ill just put it away as soon as i hear anyone come near the door  
  
ah ok  
  
the dude who took me to the managers office didnt seem to react at my name tho  
  
so at the very least thats a plus  
  
why would he react at ur name u didnt do anythin?  
  
dont play dumb daichi u damn well know how the kurusu family is gossip central  
  
im not playing dumb im just being honest  
  
>:(  
  
sure daichi  
  
dont u sure daichi me  
  
i speak only the truth for i am  
  
the one and only amazing daichi  
  
sure daichi  
  


She hears footsteps coming, so she sends a quick “gtg ttyl” and quickly slips her phone out of sight.

She takes a brief moment to brace herself as the door opens, taking a deep breath and holding it in…

...only to let it go when the person opening the door is the same guy from before, but this time, with a folder.

“Did something happen with the manager?” she asks, confused.

He takes a seat at the other side of the desk and opens the folder, taking out some forms and placing them in front of her.

“Yup,” says Teddie, “he gave the A-OK for a new hire.”

“I’m sorry?” 

“I got the A-OK to hire you,” he repeats, as if it’s obvious.

“But you said it isn’t your decision whether or not to hire people,” Aiko sputters. 

“It’s not,” He beams. “Nobody can, unless the big man himself signs off on it.”

He points to the bottom of one of the forms where a signature is.

“Which he did. So now it is!” He places it down in front of her. 

“Sign here and you’re hired.”

She pauses for a moment to collect her thoughts.

“You’re the manager,” she says. 

“I’m _a_ manager,” he corrects her. “Not _the_ manager. _The_ manager signed off on this.”

“Ta-da!” He pulls out a pen from the front pocket of his apron. “Sign here and you’re hired.”

“What?” Aiko hesitates before reaching for the pen. “But—you never even asked me when I was available to work. Or if I even wanted the job.”

“Do you not?” he asks. “You came all the way here to ask for it, didn’t you?”

“Well yeah, but don’t you need to know my availability and all that before you can hire me? So that you don’t double-book shifts?” 

_Shut your mouth Aiko, you’ve already got the job, stop asking questions._

“We can figure out your shifts and all that jazz based on your schedule,” he says, waving his hand nonchalantly. “It’s a big store, so there’s plenty of flexibility, and given you’re a student, we can plan it around your classes.”

She almost opens her mouth to ask another stupid question, before she closes it, reaches for the pen, and signs.

He smiles, holding out a hand.

“Welcome aboard, Kurusu-chan,” he says.

She takes it.

“Thanks, boss.”

For the first time in a while, her smile is genuine.

* * *

Balancing work and school turns out to be surprisingly easy. It involves her giving up a decent bit of her free time, but when Yui and Daichi often come to “visit” while she’s on shift, Aiko finds she truthfully doesn’t mind all that much.

Plus, with summer break coming soon, the academic pressures of school will soon be temporarily nonexistent. (Well, aside from summer homework, but Aiko prefers not to think about that.)

Unfortunately, as soon as she walks into the classroom in the morning, Aiko is reminded that the pressure at school isn’t just academic. The room rings with hushed whispers, several groups of students huddled together over their phones and laptops.

Daichi is standing by Yui’s desk when Aiko arrives at her own. Daichi nods in greeting, and Yui glances up from her phone. 

“Did someone die or something?” asks Aiko, raising an eyebrow. 

“Or something,” says Yui.

“Suzuki’s dad was arrested last night,” says Daichi. “Somethin’ about connections with some mobster in Tokyo that turned ‘imself in a few days ago.”

“Wait, really?” Aiko moves to the other side of the desk from Daichi and glances over Yui’s shoulder.

“Yup.” Yui holds her phone up for Aiko to read, and the headline at the top of the screen speaks for itself.

_Local Real-Estate Mogul Arrested_

“Damn.” Aiko turns towards Daichi as Yui pulls her phone back towards her lap. “You said some mobster in Tokyo turned himself in? Why?”

“Dunno,” Daichi shrugs. “That’s what everyone’s been tryna figure out. People are sayin’ its the work of some group called the Phantom Thieves, but I’m not if I really buy it.” 

“I mean, the notes posted all over Shibuya said they’d make him confess his sins, right?” Yui says. “The dude’s certainly been confessing, if the cops nailed someone all the way out here because of it.”

“I mean, yeah, but…” Daichi frowns. “How the hell do you steal someone’s desires? And what does that even mean? I’ve heard of stealin’ hearts, but that’s just trashy romance novel stuff. Nothin’ like this.”

Yui glances up, unamused. “It’s not trashy. It’s romantic. And who cares if its realistic or not? It got results.”

“Come on, Yui, y’know what I meant.” Daichi groans. “You don’t actually believe this shit, do you?”

“I can’t say I do believe it.” She shrugs. “But the results speak for themselves. Goro Akechi has been getting more than double his usual screen time for interviews about the whole thing.”

Daichi runs a hand across his face. “What, are you gonna ask the Phantom Thieves to make someone else confess so you can see your _boyfriend_ more?”

“Listen, Daichi, they get results. Double. The. Screen. Time,” Yui mimes raising an invisible glass. “Whatever the hell those guys are doing, cheers to them just for that.”

Daichi turns towards Aiko. “Back me up here, Aiko. She’s obsessed.”

Aiko hums. “She is, but no more so than you are with Pink Argent.”

“Ha!” Yui points a finger at Daichi’s face. “See? You can’t say anything. You’re a little fanboy for something too.”

Daichi pouts, turning back towards Aiko. “Low blow, dude.”

Aiko smiles and pats him on the back. “If it makes you feel better, Daichi I’m an Asuka simp-”

Yui springs to attention. “I fucking _knew_ it.”

“-apparently.”

“Oh.” Yui’s excitement falters. “Damn. I thought you were admitting it.”

“There’s nothing to admit, Yui.”

* * *

Aiko hates the summer— the heat part of it, anyways. She’s always much preferred snow to sun, and the heat wave this year is truly downright suffocating. Even worse, the high temperatures turn her makeup into a sweaty mess—so much so she’s had to pass on it the past few days. 

At the very least, stocking the frozen section provides a reprieve from the hot air—and Aiko won’t lie, those ice cream sandwiches a few shelves over look _very_ tempting right now. Apparently she’s not the only one who thinks so, as several customers come over and grab one for themselves.

A few of them stop her to ask where this or that is, but for the most part, Aiko has been largely undisturbed. Considering she’s working extra shifts because of the summer break, the peace is nice.

She’s about halfway through stocking a box of ice cream-bars when she hears someone behind her.

“Yo, do you mind handing me one of those?” 

She turns to see two guys. They both look roughly university age, maybe a little older. One has hair greyer than her grandfather and the other looks like he walked straight off of someone’s Polaroid page.

Grandpa guy sighs. “Yosuke, she’s working. Just grab one yourself.”

“Yeah, I can see that, captain obvious,” responds the wannabe-influencer. “She’s stocking what I want to buy. I’m not that distracting.”

“Sure you’re not.”

“Don’t be an asshole, Narukami.” He turns towards her and offers a smile as she passes him the ice cream bar. “I’m not distracting, right?”

“I mean… not really?” Aiko admits. “Compared to the housewives, you’re pretty tame.”

At that, the guy cringes. “Oh yeah. Definitely don’t miss that. In my opinion, though, the old ladies were worse. Does Mrs. Morita still come in on Tuesdays?”

“You know Mrs. Morita?” she says, surprised.

“Oh boy, do I _ever._ ” He chuckles. “That lady _hates_ me. Somehow always seemed to show up on my shifts, too.”

Aiko frowns. “She’s not that bad. She nags a lot, but she mostly just says I’m a sweet young lady when I help her bring her groceries to the car.”

“What the hell, man! She always used to harp on me about everything,” budget model groans. “So much for her just hating Junes.”

“Perhaps you simply needed to work more on being a sweet young lady, Yosuke.” Bowl-cut grandpa chuckles before he turns to her. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d love one of those ice cream bars as well.”

“No trouble at all,” she says, as she passes one over. 

Their eyes meet briefly, and there’s something in his gaze that makes the hair on the back of her neck. At the same time, there’s a wave of deja vu. She doesn’t know how to explain it, but there’s something about his… aura? She doesn’t quite know the words to describe it, but he just feels _familiar._

If he feels it too, he doesn’t show it. His gaze remains steady and sure, staring right through her. He turns back to his friend. 

“C’mon Yosuke,” he says, turning back, “let’s go pay before these melt.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”

As they walk off, Aiko turns her attention back to stocking the shelves. She briefly sees something blue flash in the corner of her eye and turns to glance over her shoulder. When she does, there’s nothing there. 

It must be the heat getting to her head.

* * *

Boss is in a great mood for the rest of the day, to the point he’s almost insufferable. By the time Aiko gets off of her shift, she’s exhausted. She’s just about to start the walk home when her phone buzzes.

Yui  
  
hey r u off work yet?  
  
yeah i just got off a few mins ago  
  
why?  
  
daichi and i were gonna get beef bowls for dinner and hang out tonight  
  
we were wondering if u wanted to join? :3c  
  
sure that sounds great  
  
i’ll head there now if u wanna meet up w me in a bit?  
  
sounds good see u there :)  
  


The proposal to hang out is a welcome excuse to avoid going home for a while, and Aiko is definitely grateful for it. She sends a quick text to her mother explaining she’s meeting up to work on summer homework with friends. It’s definitely a lie, but it’s a necessary one if she doesn’t want to get an earful about staying out later than normal.

It’s still hot, but the late evening brings a cool breeze that’s more than welcome on the walk to the shopping district. 

Yui’s there when she arrives, but Daichi is noticeably missing. 

“Daichi had something come up,” explains Yui, before Aiko can ask. 

“Is everything okay?” 

Yui shrugs. “I think so. He didn’t seem that worried about it, so I’m assuming everything’s fine.” 

“Ah.”

They make their way in and take a seat at the counter, putting in their orders. 

“How was work today?” Yui asks, turning towards Aiko. “I know you took a longer shift than usual these past few days. It going okay?”

“Yeah. It’s tiring, but nice. I much prefer getting paid than having to be stuck in the same area as my parents all day.” Aiko sighs. “Though when it's as hot as it’s been recently, I think all I really want to do is melt into a puddle on the floor.”

“I know right? The heat recently has just been, like, _so_ bad,” Yui sighs. “If it weren’t for the fan I have in my room I think I’d already _be_ a puddle.”

“The fact I’ve been working the freezer section helps,” Aiko admits.

“Sounds like a pretty good gig.” Yui takes a moment to think. “Hey, are they still hiring?”

“You already have a job, Yui.” Aiko frowns. “Do you even have the time for another?”

“It was a joke, Aiko. My job at the bookstore’s all I could ever dream of. Even if I had time to work another job, my mom would kill me if I started working for Junes. Something about “ruining Inaba heritage” and “killing local businesses” and all that garbage the adults go on and on about.” She shrugs. “Doesn’t stop her from shopping there, though, so…”

Aiko snorts. “For as much as a lot of them like to go on about heritage, I don’t think they realize that the thing most people know us for now is the murders. I don’t think the city-slickers really care much about our _world famous_ steaks.”

“Try telling that to my mother,” says Yui. She pauses for a moment before shifting gears. “Did you see the latest episode of Life on the River, by the way?”

“Not yet,” admits Aiko, “Why?”

“They’ve all but made HanAsuka canon.”

Aiko nearly gapes. “They did not. You’re joking.” 

Yui simply grins. “They did. I’m not lying, look it up.”

Aiko does, and it only takes a few moments for her to deduce that Yui _wasn’t_ lying.

“Holy shit.”

“I know, right?” Yui pulls something up and passes her phone over to Aiko. “Check out how much fanart we’re getting. It’s just _exploded._ ”

“Holy shit,” Aiko repeats. Yui’s feed is covered in fanart, and no matter how much Aiko keeps scrolling, it just never seems to end.

“To make things even better, they had another interview with detective dreamy on immediately after. It truly was the best night of my life, Aiko.”

“Detective dreamy?” Aiko raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

“What?” Yui pouts. “You can’t deny he’s good-looking.”

“I can and I will,” replies Aiko. “I refuse to sit here and listen to your bad taste today. It’ll ruin my beef bowl.”

“My taste is not bad,” protests Yui. “We’ve established this already. If my taste is bad, we wouldn’t like the same show and the same ship.”

“Yeah, yeah, Yui. Whatever you say.” 

“You’ll come around eventually.” 

Yui looks like she wants to say more, but their food arriving conveniently cuts her off. Aiko is grateful for it. She doesn’t think she can take another thirty minute play-by-play of how cool Goro Akechi is. 

The sky is dark by the time they finish up. 

Yui glances up at it and sighs. “I forgot it was supposed to rain tonight.”

Aiko reaches into her bag and pulls out her umbrella. 

“Want to share mine for a bit?” she offers. 

Yui grins. “That’d be awesome. Thanks, Aiko.”

“Of course,” she says. “We’re headed the same way for a while anyways.”

“You know,” says Yui, as they walk, “I’ve heard some strange things happen around here when it rains.”

“Strange things?” asks Aiko. “Like what?”

“You ever hear the rumors about the midnight channel?”

“The midnight channel?” Aiko asks. “What’s that?”

“It’s a rumour that went around when my brother was in high school. Supposedly, if you turned your TV on at midnight on a rainy day, you could see your soulmate on this special channel.”

Aiko raises an eyebrow. “And he believed it?”

“A lot of people did, from what I heard. It apparently went away after a while, but recently, some people have been saying it’s back.”

“And is it?” Aiko asks.

“Dunno,” Yui says, “I haven't tried.”

She turns towards Aiko with a grin that Aiko knows means she’s up to something. 

“You wanna try it tonight and see if it’s real?”

Aiko frowns. “Maybe. I have work early tomorrow. If I’m already awake I’d be fine to give it a try, but I’m not staying up for it.”

“Cool,” says Yui, “I’ll text you closer to the time then.”

* * *

Aiko didn’t plan to stay up late enough to try to tune in, but one episode of her new favorite show leads to another, and before she knows it, it’s near midnight and her phone is buzzing with a text from Yui. 

Yui  
  
hey are u up?  
  
against my better judgement yes  
  
i didnt intend to be up but ended up accidentally binge watching stuff tonight so  
  
doesnt matter why ur up it just matters that u r  
  
cuz i need someone to live react to :3  
  
bcuz this is so exciting nothing ever happens around here dude  
  
and that isnt a good thing?  
  
no  
  
why not  
  
just stop questioning it and change ur tv off of your game console hdmi and back onto the cable im sure you never use  
  
how r u sure i never use it  
  
because i know u  
  
and i know damn well u dont use it  
  
touche  
  
fine  
  
channel 0, dont forget  
  


Yui is right that Aiko doesn’t use the cable often, but it’s definitely not never—the background noise from shitty talkshows is extremely useful when she wants to work. Regardless, Aiko does, in fact, have to switch the input back. 

It takes her a few moments get the input on the TV to switch, and she flips through the channels until she hits zero. The sound of static instantly puts her on edge. 

She glances at her phone’s clock. There’s three minutes until midnight, so Aiko turns down the volume and sets a timer for two minutes. She’s not going to listen to that grate on her ears for any longer than she has to, but she also doesn’t want to miss this on the off chance Yui _wasn’t_ spewing bullshit.

It feels like she’d just opened Polaroid when the alarm goes off. Aiko reluctantly unmutes the TV and waits. She alternates between looking at her phone’s clock and the television screen.

At 11:59, there’s static. 

At 12:00, there’s…. still static.

She truthfully didn’t expect anything to happen, but it’s still a bit underwhelming. With a sigh, Aiko sets her phone down and reaches for the remote, only to freeze when the static cuts to silence and the room briefly glows blue.

_I didn’t turn off the TV yet._

When Aiko turns her eyes back to the screen, it’s red. Bright red. 

_Huh. I guess it really does exist._

Aiko hears her phone buzz, but she ignores it. A blur of black cuts across the screen, and jazz starts to play. The camera angle moves to follow, eventually stopping on some hazy figures fighting with… _something._ The image is too blurry to really tell what’s fully going on, and just as it looks like she’s about to get a better look, the TV cuts back to static.

Aiko mutes it again and reaches for her phone. There are seven missed texts from Yui. 

Yui  
  
WTF AIKO ITS REAL MY BROTHER DIDNT LIE  
  
WTF WTF WTF WTFFFF  
  
oops caps but wtffff  
  
i think i have multiple soulmates holy crap  
  
have u seen urs yet  
  
aiko?? hello bitch i sent you my live reaction pls respond  
  
its so blurry i cant make out who they are :C  
  
was ur screen red by any chance  
  
yeah why?  
  
i think we might have seen the same thing  
  
omg aiko we have the same soulmates then!!!  
  
wait does that make us soulmates  
  
i think the part abt soulmates might be off yui  
  
what we saw didnt seem very romantic to me  
  
besides the ppl were like being attacked by smthn?  
  
oh yeah true that was kinda weird  
  
hmmmmm  
  
i have no idea if the soulmate thing is true tbh  
  
i honestly didnt expect this to work lmao  
  
tbh me either  
  
but it did so idk  
  
i can ask my brother abt it?  
  
hes probs asleep rn cuz hes a goody two shoes with a normal sleep schedule but  
  
he swore his friends made him watch the og midnight channel once back in the day  
  
so he might know more  
  
good idea  
  
for tonight im going to bed  
  
i have work tomorrow   
  
fine but we ARE talking abt this tomorrow  
  
cuz like bruh what was that  
  
i do have to say that even tho we couldnt rlly see who the ppl were  
  
the figure on the left had a kinda nice silhouette tho  
  
im turning off my phone  
  
just like w detective dreamboat you fear the truth  
  
gn  
  


* * *

The two guys from the day before are there when she goes to clock in the next morning. It wouldn’t be that unusual if not for a) the fact that Junes isn’t open yet, b) them seemingly being buddy-buddy with her boss, and c) them being in what is supposed to be an employees-only backroom space.

Aiko can’t make out much of what’s being said, but she’s not that interested anyways. She tries to sneak past them to slip her timecard into the puncher, but doesn’t make it a step past Teddie’s open office door before she’s spotted.

“Good morning, Aiko-chan!” he says, with a wave. Budget model and bowl cut-grandpa quickly hush from their whispering and turn around to see who Teddie is waving to.

“Good morning, boss,” she replies, with an awkward wave of her own. “And good morning to your…” She pauses for a second to try to find the right word. She doesn’t want to overstep and call them friends, so maybe colleagues? “...colleagues as well.”

“Oh, Yu and Yosuke are good friends of mine,” Teddie says, waving her in. Aiko reluctantly steps into the office doorway.

“Dude, you live in my house—in _my room_ nonetheless, you work at a job that _I_ got you, and my _dad_ is your boss. I think that’s _at least_ enough to put me into best friend territory.”

“I suppose you have a point, Yosuke.” Teddie replies. “Allow me to correct myself. Yosuke here-” he gestures towards budget model “-is my _best_ friend.”

“What, so I get left in the “good friend” zone?” asks grandpa, with an amused smile. “You let Yosuke move up, but leave your dear old sensei behind? I’m heartbroken.” He mock gasps in despair, before turning towards Aiko with a small, amused smile. “It seems student has abandoned his former master.”

“No! I would _never_ —“ Teddie starts to explain himself, flushed and frantic. “You’re my best friend too, of course, and—“

“Teddie, it’s fine. I know what you meant.” Grandpa reassures him before turning back to Aiko. 

“Yu Narukami,” he says, “and the idiot next to me is Yosuke Hanamura.”

_Hanamura? As in branch manager Hanamura? That means…_

“Wait—you’re Junes Junior!” she says, before she can stop herself. “But you said yesterday that Mrs. Morita hates you!”

Teddie laughs, Yu chuckles, and Yosuke groans.

“Oh my god, I’m uh—I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to say that,” Aiko blurts, before quickly trying to correct her blunder. “It’s just that she talks about a _Junes Junior_ a lot. I know when we met yesterday you said she hated you, but I’m pretty sure she actually secretly likes you—she sometimes gets mad at me when I don’t do things the way “ _Junes Junior used to do them._ ””

By the time Aiko finishes, she’s out of breath. She doesn’t get a response immediately, and she internally cringes as she waits for the other shoe to drop. It never does.

“Wait, really?” Yosuke finally says, pleasantly surprised.

Aiko nods. 

“Huh. The more you know.” He turns towards Yu and waggles his eyebrows. “See? I always told you I was a fan favorite, but you never believed me.”

“You thought Mrs. Morita hated you until a minute ago,” says Yu.

“That’s irrelevant.” Yosuke waves his hand, glancing at the clock briefly. “Ah, shit.”

He turns back towards Aiko.

“If you have to go, don’t let us keep you. I wouldn’t want to make you late to clock in for the morning.” 

Aiko follows his gaze to the clock, and internally panics. She’s running behind—not irreparably, but still behind. It figures he must have known that the morning shift is about to start from his own time working here.

“Oh. Thanks,” she says. “I’ll… uh… get going then?”

Yu gives Aiko a small wave as she turns to leave. 

“Later,” he says.

Aiko can feel Yu’s eyes on her as she leaves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, to be a weeb walking home with your weeb friend in the rain while sharing an umbrella.


End file.
